Come Tour the Nursery with Us!!

Be prepared for a lot of reading!  Honestly, I'd probably skim if it were me reading somebody else's blog that is this long, but I really did this for my own sake.  I plan to print out these blogs one day and have them as a keepsake for myself and children.


Some of you may remember our old guest room:

 

Well, she's had some major plastic surgery:


As you enter Abby Ruth's room, her door holds these adorable pieces of art made by our sweet friend Meredith.

Our changing station is all ready for her!  This window may just be my favorite part of the room.  The idea came from here.  You will also see her coming home outfit hanging off one of the knobs, washed and awaiting her arrival!

In the corner is the adorable bow holder that Lisa had made for AR.  I have only a few bows, but intentions of making more!  I am doubting she'll have any hair though when she arrives... we shall see!

I finally got to use the lamp shade I bought at IKEA over a year ago!  It wouldn't fit any normal lamp stand, but I like how it looks hanging better!  I made a fabric cover to go over the cord and really like how it turned out too.  The rocking chair used to be in our room and was black (sorry that I stink at before pics!) and then I found the cushion at Old Time Pottery.  We have a basket of books ready to go and I can't wait to read to her!  The diaper cake was made by my friend Ellen at church and it's too cute to take apart yet!



If you look at the before pics from above, you'll see that this bed frame used to be black.  As you are starting to see, William has been quite busy!  The pillows with the crewel stitch work on them were done by my grandmother and I was so excited to use them in the room.  The quilt was made by my great-greatmother and I've used it a lot throughout my life.  It has many places that need to be stitched and I had high hopes of doing that before the baby came, but I'm not really seeing that happen.  If you'd like to volunteer, go ahead!  The white pillow shams were actually my second attempt on adding trim to something and I was somewhat impressed with myself. 

The pictures on the wall belonged to William's grandmother and were used in Sunday school classrooms back in the 50s and 60s.  His mom had held on to them and I was looking into using some pics out of old story books when she showed me these.  And they were perfect!  The frames were $3 at walmart and I painted them blue to match. 

The hanging shelf above the bed belonged to my grandfather and then my mom.  She was kind enough to give it to us and we painted it white as well.  Both of our moms had Beatrice Potter and Bunnykin items for us when we were little and I was able to combine them for this shelf!

The lamp and the little girl figurine on the nightstand were in my room growing up and had originally come from my grandmother.   Above the bed you will see some art work that I did.  I actually do have before and after pics of it and will show that in the next blog.



The two shelves on the wall were found at the Habitat ReStore for $1 each!  They were wood colored, so of course they headed to the shop for a makeover.  I was good at keeping William busy and he was a great sport about it all!  On the top shelf you see our video monitor that was graciously given to us, an old picture that I think are the Humbles characters I found at my grandparents house, and an old hobnail vase also from my grandparents house. In the vase are some dried flowers from one of our showers.  On the bottom shelf are two little wooden figures I found at goodwill for .50 cents each and they went w/ the theme too well not to buy!  Also, there is a cute plate that Aunt Heather decorated for AR with her initials on it and a little bird used as decor at another shower.

The crib we were fortunuate to get for free and yes, it was wood colored when we got it!  The bookshelf that my grandfather built is to the right.  I really am upset that I don't have a before pic of this shelf b/c it was in bad need of TLC and William did a great job on it!  Above the shelf you'll see some art work done by another Ellen from church with a Bible verse on it.

 Another picture of the bookshelf.  On the very top there is another cute craft from Aunt Heahter with Abby Ruth's name on a picture holder... right now it holds cards and shower invites.  Then the vase was given to my mom when I was born and I made napkin flowers to go in it.  On the next shelf is an old block and rattle of William's, some cross stitch work of his moms, and AR's piggy bank (which takes any form of donation!).  Then below that are two book ends that were in my grandmother and great aunt's room when they were children, some more cross stitching from Claire, and an elephant on wheels I found at a thrift store.  Go down another shelf and we have a Clemson bear that my mom bought at a consignment sale, an old car of William's, some blocks from Heather in the basket, and a couple books.  Then lastly, on the bottom, is another basket of books and her photo album. 

This is what is in the crib as of now... though it will all come out for safety once she's in it.  She's received a few stuffed animals, but the big lamb you see was William's when he was little.  The lovely with the puppy head was our gift to AR.  My daddy bought me my "Clownie" (a sock clown) before I was born and though I didn't really get attached until I was older, I wanted AR to have something that she knew we'd taken time to pick out just for her.  William was very helpful in the picking out process.  I also love that you can buy other pieces like plates, cups, a stuffed dog, etc to go along with her.  Her name is Sunny Puppy according to the tag, but that could change!  The beautiful quilt was made by our friend Lisa from church and I just can't wait to have her laying/crawling on it!

I have to say that William did an outstanding job on all the painting and hanging of art work.  It was great how we worked together to get this room the way that I wanted it... he was super nice about everything.  He really let me go in the direction I wanted and did what I asked.  I know that if he didn't like something, he'd tell me and I'd listen.  I'm so grateful that we can do projects like this together and not get into one single arguement... though if you know William, he doesn't argue.  The Lord truly blessed me with him for a husband and I hope and pray Abby Ruth takes her daddy's personality!  The Lord knows I'm not as easy to live with as he is!